Showing posts with label Conversions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conversions. Show all posts

Thursday 21 September 2023

Japanese Warrior Monks

 Many many moons ago Chinese firm Hing Fat produced a set of Ninjas, quite nice little figures and all in original action poses with a variety of suitably Japanese weaponry.  You used to see them everywhere, but nowadays not so much.  Now my understanding is that Ninjas are some sort of super stealthy assassin, so not the sort that you want whole armies of, with that in mind I turned some of them into Warrior Monks:

I converted these six just to see how they would work, I think they're good enough to justify making up to a unit of twelve, then maybe another sect in blue.  I like the idea of having varied units that can act as allies to the main armies of a period, it makes the converting and painting less onerous when you know you only have to make a few.

This is a modern solid metal figure made by Frontline, from a set of medieval cavalry that were given away with magazine partworks, they came freestanding without a base, which makes them prone to falling over as they are rather heavy and have a high centre of gravity

This was the only Samurai figure they made in the range, shame really as they are beautifully painted, I added the base for stability and it makes a very welcome addition to the collection I am slowly building up.

Friday 15 September 2023

Irish Warband

 Irish sea raiders were pillaging the coast of Saxon Britain long before the Vikings arrived, they later opposed the Viking incursions into Ireland and continued fighting alongside anyone who would pay them until well after the Normans appeared on the scene.  So a useful addition to any Dark Ages collection, sadly nobody ever made 54mm toys soldiers depicting Kerns or Gallowglass, so I gave them my own twist:

In the centre is a modern metal figure of an Irish Chieftain made by Del Prado, he needed a warband to follow him and that kickstarted this little project.  Irish warriors are depicted wearing predominantly ochre cloth (wool dyed with urine) so I used this colour liberally to pull the figures together as a unit.

They also used a hotchpotch of  weaponry and armour, when they had them, so this allows considerable licence when selecting figures and converting them, the chap centre front is throwing a dart, a uniquely Irish weapon of the period.

Wealthier warriors and sub-chieftains were better armed and armoured than the hoi-polloi so I've included a few of these.  They won't win any prizes for historical accuracy but were fun to paint and being of Irish heritage myself I have a certain fondness for them.

Friday 1 September 2023

Shell craters

 Feeling the need for some crafting therapy I cast around the projects I've started over the years but left unfinished, there were plenty to choose from.

Motivated by the recent acquisition of some rather neat First War tanks I opted to finish the shell craters I started before lockdown.

Several years ago I started making modular trench sections in the style of the old Elastolin accessories, (they've still yet to be completed) and these shell craters were to be  an addition to the project.

The wooden tanks are decorative items, artisan made, in a small workshop which I have been unable to track down.

The figures are mostly conversions of Armies in Plastic and various Cherilea bits, the explosion is a resin recast of an original Elastolin item. 

This is how they started life, various sized circular lids glued to cardboard and bulked out with polystyrene packing chips (this was as far as I got before getting bored first time around), an irregular shape built up with air drying clay, the outer walls given a coat of PVA glue then a mix of sawdust with scatter sprinkled over the top.  I gave the crater a coat of  burnt umber with a wash of black around the inner walls to simulate the heat of the explosion and dry brushed grass green over the sawdust on the outer slopes, the centre painted dark grey to represent pooled water.

Already feeling better for having achieved something.

Saturday 20 May 2023

Plastic Warrior 2023 - Conversions

 Apart from collecting old toy soldiers and gaming I also like to convert and paint figures, sadly I don't get enough time for this part of the hobby but it gives me a great appreciation for the work of other people.  Here are some I picked up at the show which will be gracing the games on my table at some point in the future.

These British cavalry and the German infantry below are the work of Eric Kemp, owner of Helmet Models and well known converter of plastic figures.  The riders are made from Armies in Plastic mounted of horses from various makers, they will form a reconnaissance unit, shame there were only three, if there had been more I'd have bought the lot.

Not sure what part these will play but it never hurts to have the odd vignette for table dressing and I just couldn't resist this pair, the dog and motorcycle are metal castings.

Eric's painting style is very distinctive, especially the faces, I've picked up some of his figures before and you can tell it's his work the moment you see them.  I bought a dozen of these, enough for a Sturmer unit, the kneeling officer is a metal casting.

Another modeller with a very distinctive style is Vince Mattocks, who made these knights from the Hundred Years War, again I'm a great fan of his work and pick them up whenever I can. 

The donor figures will be easily identified by most collectors and have had only minor changes but enough to give them a unique character of their own.  

Vince is very knowledgeable of this period, all the coats of arms and liveries are accurate, which saves me an awful lot of work.  Helpfully he also writes the name of the knight portrayed under the base and signs it.

I don't know who made these, the Roman sling thrower was made in Russia (but I can't remember who by) and isn't a conversion but I might use him as a pattern to make some more, the mounted Roman can take command of a Legion I've been working on and the French standard bearer will join the ranks of the 7 Years War collection.

Peter Bergner came over from Germany with a box full of these Cafe Storme figures, beautiful sculpts by military artist Eugene Leliepvre, they were oddments and damaged, so came cheap as chips and just what I wanted for a number of conversion I have in mind.

That's all for this year.

Thursday 28 April 2022

More of the new display

I've been wondering which figures to display on the extra shelves I added to my IKEA display cabinet, this is what I've come up with so far:

Some Polish Lancers, the officer in the centre made in France by JIM, the troopers around him made in Poland by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), beautiful figures destined to remain in the cabinet and not risk the rigours of the wargame table.

The Corsican Ogre himself, made by Cyrnos, the Mamelouk standard bearer made by JIM as are the Carabinier and Hussars behind them. 

The Duke of Marlborough, mounted by Cherilea and on foot made by Tradition, the Grenadiers in the background are repainted Cavendish figures.

A hotchpotch of American Revolution figures, many converted from old Britains swoppets and Helmet kits parts by Denis Donovan and Gareth Lloyd, who have established an enviable reputation for such work.

Friday 15 April 2022

Upcycling a display cabinet

 Some years ago I picked up an IKEA display cabinet in a charity shop, and have been very pleased with it.  I got it for a reasonable price, and some time later learned that it is their DETOLF model, which is a "Best Seller" and is still available brand new for a very reasonable £65.  Here's what it looks like:

I use it to house my 7 Years War collection of wargames armies, which are quite attractive figures but the collection has now outgrown the four shelves in the unit.  It can house about 300 foot figures but as you can see the big drawback with this unit is that there's a lot of empty space and for years I've been looking for a suitable method to install additional shelves.  A few weeks ago a friend on facebook gave me the heads up on a firm in Northern Ireland who produce custom made supports and Perspex shelves for this very unit.  So I got some! 

The original shelf for two Regiments of Infantry (BMC AWI), two guns and two companies of Grenadiers (HaT and various conversions).  The new shelf supports are a bit fiddley to attach but after acouple of goes you start to get the hang of it and I managed to add a further eight shelves in the space available.

The new layout with additional shelf, for 2nd Cuirassiers, two more Regiments of Infantry and some light troops.  The figure of Old Fritz on the left is an early tin flat.

The original display of the Cuirassiers was a bit cramped.  The bronze disk in the foreground is dated 1757 and is a Campaign Medal issued for the battles of  Lissa (Leuthen) and Rossbach, I found it in a junk box of old coins 50 years ago when I was a teenager working a Saturday job in London's Portobello Road Market, it seemed appropriate to display it here.

The Austrian shelf (these also double as French but I need to do more flags) Three Regiments of Infantry (HaT Prussian infantry), two companies of Grenadiers (Italieri) a unit of Pandours (various conversions) and two guns (BMC)

On the left are the Russian contingent (BMC AWI) and on the right the Army of Brunswick (Marx infantry and HaT cavalry)

New layout with additional shelves.

And finally a closer look at the Russian Infantry and Artillery.

Saturday 2 April 2022

Woking Wargames Day 2022

 A couple of weeks back (how time flies) I went along to the Woking Wargames Day organised by Mike Lewis of the Little Wars Revisited Group, there were four games in play throughout the day and here is what they looked like:


Mike Lewis put on the Battle of Quatre Bras using Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules.


The Prussians take the crossroads..........


................and hold it to win the game.


Anthony Morton brought along his Romans and Ancient Germans, as seen on this blog recently.


We didn't use these German cavalry last time we played so I was very pleased to get this shot of them.


Pat (sorry didn't get your last name) treated us to his Anglo-Normans game using the Lion Rampant rules, which seem to be universally popular with 54mm wargamers.


The figures used are 54mm metal castings from Irregular Miniatures.


Nice to see all the different shield designs.


The fourth game of the day was Eric Kemp's Italian Revolution skirmish using Eric's own simple fast play rules.


All the figures were conversions made from just about every American Civil War range you can think of.


Garibaldi's Red Shirts get to grips with Papal Zouaves, Eric's conversions are always a joy to behold.


The home made rules were very easy to assimilate and gave a realistic outcome despite Eric's legendary ability to throw a 1.


I can't remember which Regiment these chaps represent but they were a welcome addition to the Papal forces.


That's all for another year folk's, I missed the last two and am already looking for ward to the next one.

Tuesday 11 January 2022

Honved infantry for the Risorgimento

 Or at least my take on them. I've been sitting on a pile of Airfix Napoleonic French Line infantry and Grenadiers which I've been steadily trying to find other uses for, I got bored with painting French uniforms a long time ago!


In this case a unit of them are joining my Risorgimento project as Austrian Honved infantry from the  1840s.  Anyone conversant with the period will instantly recognise that the uniforms aren't quite right for such troops, but at least the colours are, more or less, and that's good enough for me.


A simple conversion, just a head change for a metal Austrian shako from Dorset Model Soldiers and a paint job, mounted on metal washers for stability and basing uniformity, the standard is printed from the Warflags website.


Some of the other units in the Risorgimento project have appeared here before in this game based on the Battle of Calatafimi


While I had the Dorset heads and the relevant paints out I added a couple of Austrian Artillery crews to the mix, these made from BMC American Civil War figures.

Wednesday 9 June 2021

Repairing PZG medievals

For those who might not have come across them before PZG is the Polski Zwiazek Gluchych (Polish Association of the Deaf) and during the Communist regime they used to run employment schemes, one of which was producing toy soldiers.  And extremely good toy soldiers at that, I always pick them up whenever I come across them and I've never been too fussy about condition, these three were long overdue for a bit of attention.

The horn blower had lost his lower legs and base, the other two were just broken off their bases at the ankles, all three had lost their weapons.  They've all had their legs pinned and filled with miliput, the hornist will need a bit more reconstruction, don't know why I put him on a round base instead of oblong though, didn't think that through!

The finished items, I matched the original paint as best I could, the double handed axes are accessories for 28mm figures, made by Fireforge Games, and the crossbow is from the Replicants range of Britains swoppet replacement parts.